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Three carts, a truck and a dot-com name
By DAVE GUSSOW © St. Petersburg Times,
"With two carts, I can do five or six orders," said Chappelow, who has grocery shopping down to a science. She and her husband are the founders and owners of Grocerydriver.com, an online food delivery service. The "dot-com" in Grocerydriver's name helped grab much-needed public relations when the company started in January 2000. In reality, it's at best a medium-tech company: More than half its orders come in by phone or fax, and most customers hear about it by word of mouth. It has more in common with the days when the corner grocery had "delivery boys" than with the current era of click-and-buy Internet shopping.
Webvan and HomeRuns.com are both out of business, but Grocerydriver.com is still around. It survived by starting small, serving only Pinellas County with Chappelow's dual shopping carts and an SUV to make deliveries. Chappelow plans to expand to Hillsborough and Pasco counties soon. In fact, the idea of online grocery shopping is far from dead, despite the meltdown of the Web-only start-ups. Chains such as Publix Super Markets and Albertsons are pursuing Internet initiatives but taking a slower approach. "There is still a future for online groceries," said David Kathman, a stock analyst with Morningstar in Chicago. "It's just a question of finding out how to do that without going bankrupt. The survivors will be the traditional brick-and-mortar grocers." Publix soon will offer Internet shopping in Pompano Beach, Orlando and Alpharetta, Ga., near Atlanta. The company is studying other areas where it can offer the service but is in no rush, so it's not clear when or if it will be available in the Tampa Bay area. "We're comfortable with our model," Publix spokesman Lee Bronson said. "We have brand identity. We have infrastructure in place, and we're looking at it as another service. Our brick and mortar will still be our foundation. Click and mortar is another service." Publix customers will place orders online and give a time when the groceries can be delivered. The order will be handled by a fulfillment center, not individual stores, and Publix will charge about $8 for the service, Bronson says. At Albertsons, which has been testing online shopping in Seattle, clerks equipped with wireless devices fill orders from a store's shelves. It scrapped its original idea of using fulfillment centers in the back of stores. It takes 20 to 30 minutes to fill an order, which runs an average of about $100, and Albertsons does not charge for the service. Food is delivered to a home within a 90-minute window or customers can pick up orders at individual stores. * * * The prospect of competing eventually with the big grocery chains doesn't faze Grocerydriver.com's Chappelow, who refers to the Publix and its staff at the Tri City Plaza store as "we" because she spends so much time there.
In fact, he acknowledged borrowing the business plan from another Internet grocery, Peapod.com, which was bought out this year but still operates in seven markets, including Boston, Chicago and Washington. "I'm a little disappointed that we haven't reached into Tampa a little quicker," Dan Chappelow said. "The ultimate goal is still to reach statewide, but it's gone from a five-year to a 10-year plan." For now, he says, "We're concentrating a lot more on customer service and needs rather just going out with a shotgun effect." So far, Lysa Chappelow counts only 35 regular customers, enough to keep the business going and sufficient for her to devote full time to it since spring when she quit a job at a nursing staffing company. The couple's main income is Dan's job as a radio station ad sales rep, though he helps make some deliveries. "I don't know why we're having a problem with people knowing we're here," she said. "I know the business is out there. I'm ready for it to grow." Chappelow is working for no pay at this point, pumping money back into the business. There was the investment in a 1997 Ford Explorer, which was purchased in May with 48,000 miles and had more than 54,000 miles by early August. Then there's gas, the Web site and modest advertising, which she says has been ineffective so far. In all, she estimates she and her husband have put about $15,000 into the effort. Their condo, where they live with their two children, is their office. Grocerydriver.com lists about 3,000 products and prices on its site. Customers can choose what they want online and know approximately what the bill will be. When customers order over the Internet, their items aren't logged into some high-power database. Chappelow simply prints out the orders to take to the store. About 60 percent of the orders come in by fax or phone, she says, because many of her customers are senior citizens who don't have computers and in some cases are too frail to shop themselves. They're not the working families she expected to be the main market when Grocerydriver opened. Chappelow has shopped at the Tri City Publix for 12 years because she likes it and it's close to her home. If customers ask her to go to a different grocery, she will, but it doesn't happen often. Chappelow knows the layout of the Publix almost by heart, and the order forms are organized so she can pick up items quickly. She says she can fill a $160 order in 20 minutes. "All my customers know I shop for them as I shop for me," said Chappelow, 36. Chains are "not going to have personal service." Grocerydriver charges $15 for orders up to $150, and 10 percent of the bill for orders above that amount. Orders need to be placed a day in advance; there's an additional $5 charge for same-day service. Grocerydriver has specific delivery days for certain areas: North Pinellas is Monday and Thursday; mid-Pinellas is Tuesday and Saturday; and South Pinellas is Wednesday and Friday.
* * * On a recent Wednesday, Chappelow leaves her home near Clearwater Central Catholic High School a few minutes after 11 a.m. with three grocery orders in hand. But first she has two deliveries to make for Honeybaked Ham. She got Honeybaked as a customer when another Pinellas delivery service called Internet Home Delivery left the area. "She's dependable, reliable, real personable," said Douglas Gow, manager of the Honeybaked Ham on U.S. 19 in Clearwater. "She's an extension of us," which is important for his business. She earns $10 to $15 for each delivery, depending on location. Chappelow stops first at a doctor's office just north of Gulf to Bay Boulevard, putting the boxed lunch order on a dolly to get it into the office. Then she heads west for the second order, leaving it at a real estate office on Walsingham Road at 12:01 p.m., just a minute late. Driving in Pinellas doesn't bother Chappelow, who says she knows shortcuts and tries to avoid rush-hour congestion.
After Chappelow puts items in the handbaskets, she checks them off on one of the order forms. She opens a carton of eggs to inspect their condition. "How would you like to have broken eggs?" she asks. "You wouldn't like it." She stops at the deli to pick up an order she called in so she wouldn't have to wait in line. She appears to be stumped in her quest for pickled watermelon, but a manager helps find a jar. One customer wants a pound of cherries, so Chappelow searches through packages looking for one closest to the right weight and in good condition. At one point, she has three packages in her arms. "I live with my pen in my mouth," she says, laughing. In about 25 minutes, she's at Leveque's checkout, where each order is rung up separately. Chappelow writes a check for each: $36.52, $27.64 and $38.69. The orders are on the low side; the average is $60 to $65. A favorite bagger, Artie Bertha, helps her sort the groceries at her Explorer, which holds a stack of Rubbermaid bins, a cooler and an insulated bag. By 1:15 p.m., she's heading to an apartment on 66th Street near 38th Avenue N in St. Petersburg. As she drives, she talks about her customers' likes and dislikes, and how finicky people can be about their food. She will substitute items if what has been ordered is not available, but will take it back if the customer doesn't want it. Some of her regulars are physically disabled or blind or have no relatives in the area. Time permitting, she will stay and visit occasionally. "I have no complaints whatsoever," said Bill Harrison, 80, of St. Petersburg, a customer for more than a year. "She goes out of her way to help me." Her second stop is off 34th Street S, where Traci Swain, 32, lives with her elderly parents and says she uses Chappelow "because she's convenient. She's a real nice lady." Chappelow's final stop is in downtown St. Petersburg, with a first-time customer whose out-of-town daughter found the service online. "I guess she was tired of listening to me" complain, said Abbie Eccellente, 81, who no longer is able to do her own shopping. It's 2:33, and the afternoon run is over. A final order will be bought and delivered that evening. Chappelow will pick up the pace when her daughter starts school this month. She wants to do more advertising than the signs on the Explorer and the Web site. She plans to contact doctors and hospitals, where patients might need delivery services. She has toyed with the idea of becoming a general delivery service, though she says her experience with a small gift shop didn't pay enough to justify the effort. Chappelow doesn't know what to expect when she expands into Hillsborough and Pasco. She can handle about 10 orders a day herself and says family and friends are ready to join the company if it takes off. But if it grows, she also knows adding employees will increase expenses. "I keep picturing the big picture," she said. "Maybe in five or 10 years, someone will want to buy my business and I can retire." For now, though, "we're not in the red and we're not millionaires." - Information from Times wires and files was used in this report. Dave Gussow can be reached at gussow@sptimes.com or (727) 445-4228.
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